Senior Research Programmer/Analyst Pharmacoepidemiology

Mass General Brigham; Somerville (MA); Hybrid; USD 80,000 - 116,000; Full time

Job summary

Mass General Brigham is seeking a Senior Research Programmer/Analyst to support the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics. The role focuses on transforming complex real-world healthcare data into reproducible analytic datasets and analyses using SAS as a core language, with R/Python and SQL as complementary tools.

The position involves collaboration with epidemiologists, biostatisticians, clinicians, and other researchers to translate scientific questions into robust data

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a quantitative field required.
• Master’s degree preferred.
• 3+ years of programming and data‑analysis experience; 5+ years preferred in healthcare/research/data‑intensive settings.
• Advanced proficiency in SAS with large datasets; R/Python and SQL experience strongly valued.

Responsibilities

• Support faculty and research staff in developing analytic datasets and conducting statistical analyses.
• Develop, validate, manage, analyze, and document large healthcare datasets including longitudinal claims and EHR data.
• Translate research questions into reproducible programming workflows (data cleaning, transformation, cohort construction, variable creation, analysis).
• Apply programming best practices: QC, version control, modular reusable code, documentation for reproducibility.
• Collaborate with investigators across multiple projects and mentor junior programmers/analysts.

Skills

Programming

Quality control

Teamwork

Education

Bachelor's degree in quantitative field

Master's degree preferred

Tools

SAS

R

Python

SQL

Git

Job description

Senior Research Programmer/Analyst

Site: The Brigham and Women's Hospital, Inc. Mass General Brigham relies on a wide range of professionals, including doctors, nurses, business people, tech experts, researchers, and systems analysts to advance our mission. As a not-for-profit, we support patient care, research, teaching, and community service, striving to provide exceptional care. We believe that high-performing teams drive groundbreaking medical discoveries and invite all applicants to join us and experience what it means to be part of Mass General Brigham.

Job Summary

The Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School was created to facilitate a wide range of activities related to the use and outcomes of medications. Its mission is to bring together medicine, epidemiology, biostatistics, health services research, data science, and related disciplines to evaluate the benefits, risks, utilization, and costs of existing and new prescription medications and to develop methods to optimize medication use. The Senior Research Programmer/Analyst will support this mission as part of a highly collaborative multidisciplinary research environment comprising approximately 30 Harvard Medical School faculty members and 80 research and administrative staff, including a team of experienced research programmers/analysts. The Division’s research makes extensive use of large and complex real-world healthcare data, including longitudinal health insurance claims and electronic health records, as well as data from surveys and randomized trials. The Senior Research Programmer/Analyst will have the opportunity to work closely with epidemiologists, biostatisticians, clinicians, and other quantitative researchers to translate scientific questions into reproducible analytic datasets and analyses. The Division uses a range of programming languages and computational tools to work with large-scale, complex healthcare data, with SAS serving as a core programming language and R and Python used in complementary applications across our research portfolio. Because a substantial body of our established analytic infrastructure is built in SAS, advanced SAS expertise is essential for this position, while proficiency in R and/or Python is strongly valued. We encourage the use of modern, efficient, and reproducible approaches to data analysis and welcome candidates who bring strong computational skills and can contribute to the continued evolution of programming practices across languages and platforms.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

• Support faculty and other research staff in the development of analytic datasets and the conduct of statistical analyses for pharmacoepidemiologic, health services, and related research.
• Develop, validate, manage, analyze, and document large and complex healthcare datasets, including longitudinal health insurance claims and electronic health record data.
• Translate research questions and study protocols into efficient and reproducible programming workflows, including data cleaning, transformation, linkage, cohort construction, variable creation, and statistical analysis.
• Apply programming best practices, including systematic quality control, code review, version control, modular and reusable programming, and clear documentation to support reproducibility and collaboration.
• Contribute to the Division’s programming and research-computing environment across SAS, R, Python, SQL, and related tools, including identifying opportunities to improve workflows, computational efficiency, and reusable infrastructure.
• Collaborate closely with faculty and research staff across multiple ongoing and new research projects.
• Participate in programmer/analyst team meetings, mentor junior programmers/analysts, and serve as a technical resource to other members of the research team.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, data science, statistics, biostatistics, epidemiology, biomedical informatics, mathematics, engineering, or another relevant quantitative field required.
• Master’s degree preferred.
• At least 3 years of relevant programming and data‑analysis experience required; 5 or more years of experience in a healthcare, research, or similarly data-intensive environment preferred.
• Advanced proficiency in SAS required, including substantial experience with data management and analysis of large datasets.
• Proficiency in R and/or Python strongly preferred.
• Experience with SQL and relational databases strongly preferred.
• Experience working with large, complex, longitudinal datasets required; experience with healthcare claims and/or electronic health record data strongly preferred.

Skills / Abilities / Competencies Required

• Strong programming and problem‑solving skills, with careful attention to accuracy, reproducibility, and quality control.
• Ability to manage and prioritize multiple concurrent research projects.
• Experience working in Linux/Unix-based command-line environments and remote computing systems.
• Experience with version‑control systems such as Git/GitHub or similar platforms.
• Ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary research teams and communicate technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical collaborators.

Additional Desired Skills

• Experience developing reusable, efficient, and reproducible data‑processing or analytic workflows for large datasets.
• Familiarity with high-performance, cloud‑based, or distributed computing environments and modern software development practices.
• Knowledge of epidemiologic and biostatistical methods and/or experience with emerging computational approaches, including machine learning and AI-enabled research tools.

Additional Job Details (if applicable)

Remote Type Hybrid Work Location 399 Revolution Drive Scheduled Weekly Hours 40 Employee Type Regular Work Shift Day (United States of America) Pay Range $79,560.00 - $115,720.80/Annual Grade 7 At Mass General Brigham, we believe in recognizing and rewarding the unique value each team member brings to our organization. Our approach to determining base pay is comprehensive, and any offer extended will take into account your skills, relevant experience if applicable, education, certifications and other essential factors. The base pay information provided offers an estimate based on the minimum job qualifications; however, it does not encompass all elements contributing to your total compensation package. In addition to competitive base pay, we offer comprehensive benefits, career advancement opportunities, differentials, premiums and bonuses as applicable and recognition programs designed to celebrate your contributions and support your professional growth.

EEO Statement

2200 The Brigham and Women's Hospital, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, age, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation, military service, genetic information, and/or other status protected under law. We will ensure that all individuals with a disability are provided a reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. To ensure reasonable accommodation for individuals protected by Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Vietnam Veteran's Readjustment Act of 1974, and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, applicants who require accommodation in the job application process may contact Human Resources at (857)-282-7642.

Mass General Brigham Competency Framework

At Mass General Brigham, our competency framework defines what effective leadership "looks like" by specifying which behaviors are most critical for successful performance at each job level. The framework is comprised of ten competencies (half People-Focused, half Performance-Focused) and are defined by observable and measurable skills and behaviors that contribute to workplace effectiveness and career success. These competencies are used to evaluate performance, make hiring decisions, identify development needs, mobilize employees across our system, and establish a strong talent pipeline.

Leadership and Impact

Combat disease. Hold a hand. Help people. Impact the world. Mass General Brigham is a passionate, welcoming community where minds meet caring hearts. Come be a part of the world’s most powerful force in medicine, where every role is important in changing lives. Our history includes New England hospitals founded over 200 years ago, some of the first and most prestigious hospitals in the world. Built on the legacy of two leading academic medical centers, we’re more than a system—we’re leaders in the practice of medicine. Mass General Brigham is committed to serving the community. We are dedicated to enhancing patient care, teaching and research, and taking a leadership role as an integrated health care system. We recognize that increasing value and continuously improving quality are essential to maintaining excellence.